1. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularity to utilization and control of femto Base Stations in a cellular communication network.
2. Background
Typical radio access cellular networks operate by way of various radio transmission devices, or base stations. These base stations provide wireless access to wireless mobile devices, such as cellular phones, to a core network of a cellular service provider. The base stations along with various data routing and control mechanisms (e.g., base station controllers, core and edge routers, and so on) facilitate remote communication for the mobile devices. As communication service providers expand base station coverage, more land areas can be covered by the radio access network. However, some areas can be difficult to provide reliable radio coverage, for various reasons such as population, high mobile traffic, interference with other transmitters, or materials that absorb base station transmission (e.g., dense, concrete and steel buildings, underground facilities, and the like).
One solution to provide mobile communication support to areas where radio access is difficult, is a ‘personal’ base station, or femto Base Station (fBS) (also termed, e.g., a home Node B or Femto cell). An fBS is a relatively small range device (compared with standard radio network base stations, such as a Node-B) that facilitates wireless communication over a licensed cellular radio band (as opposed to an unlicensed band, utilized by wireless local area network routers). The fBS can maintain a wireless link with cellular devices over such a network band, in a similar manner as a Node-B base station. Consequently, an fBS can provide small range cellular coverage for an area that does not receive a good signal from a radio access base station. Often, an individual consumer might utilize an fBS in their home, an apartment building, an office building, and so on, for personal cellular access.
Although the fBS communicates with cellular devices via licensed radio network communication, it communicates with a core cellular network or cellular control module via an Internet Protocol (IP) connection. For instance, an fBS will typically connect to a digital subscriber line (DSL), a coaxial TV cable carrying broadband IP, a broadband over power line (BPL) connection, or the like. The fBS can utilize the IP connection to communicate with a provider's cellular network equipment over the Internet, for instance, or via a direct connection between an IP server and a cellular traffic control device (e.g., a radio network controller (RNC) or fBS aggregator). FBS devices, as described, can help to overcome some of the problems associated with typical radio network coverage, and can therefore be valuable tools for cellular network service providers.